The Mouth-Watering Taste of the Baja Desert

Damn.

I stopped at a mini mart on the drive up from Santa Barbara today and bought water, iced tea and a package of Starburst. I always thought the blue package was tropical fruit. This has apparently changed. The blue Starburst package now signifies Baja flavor.

Yes, Baja flavor.

The four flavors of Starburst in the Baja package are strawberry-watermelon, limon, Baja dragonfruit and Aztec punch. (I don't know what the fuck Aztec punch tastes like. For all I know, sand.) The colors are pink, red, green and light blue. (I'm fairly certain green is limon, but the rest are a toss-up.) The flavor name and color are ultimately irrelevant, however. Each one tastes like Kool-Aid. With extra sugar.

Why did the good people of Starburst do this? Who thought this was a good idea?

Damn.

The Conceits

Finally. Every time I've ever heard "Mr. Brightside" my mind always stumbles when processing the line "opens up my eager eye." I've known I know it from somewhere, and for the longest time I always thought it was a poem — like Poe or something Romantic.

So now, as I'm studying for a final on the Romantics and the Victorians, iTunes finally supplies the answer: Nena's "99 Red Balloons." Plain as day, she says "opens up one eager eye" toward the end of the second verse. She's no Romantic, nor is she one of the Romantics . But thank you, Nena, nonetheless.